Question: What areas are you most curious about as your team enters training camp?

Answer: What I want to see is how they carry over the progress we made in the spring, in all areas. I think, with the O-line, we have a lot of questions there, from a chemistry standpoint to a lot of young guys we're excited about seeing.

That will be an interesting thing to watch. I really like the way those guys have worked together. That chemistry with those guys is important, and hopefully that will translate into good play.

I want to see if the quarterbacks can build off what they did in the spring. This will be the first chance we get to see live action.

And overall, defensively, with our scheme, boy they look good out here (practice fields), but seeing them against another team is what we're really looking forward to seeing.

We've got so many position battles and guys vying for spots, it's hard to pick one or two and say this is an area we want to watch.

Q: Have you braced yourself for the questions about your quarterback position?

A: Well, you know it's coming. You know it's going to be a topic, you are going to be asked about it. It's not new. That position has been discussed for almost every year, it seems like. The only time it wasn't was when we came off the 2008 season and the Super Bowl. Everybody was pretty sure Kurt (Warner) was going to be our guy at that point.

I don't think it's something with just our football team; there are a lot of teams that are facing those questions because that position is so important. That's natural."

Q: Has it been hard because while we're all talking about it, there's really nothing new to talk about?

A: There will be days when one guy will look better than the other. And I think the one thing we can't lose sight of is this is something you have to evaluate in its entirety, not something you do in just one practice.

This position is about being able to establish some type of consistency and make those plays at critical times. The thing you have to do is you have to make sure you get enough reps with either one of them that you see them handle those situations. At least you feel like you've seen flashes from both of them, in games, that they can do it. And you're excited about both of them and the progress you think that they've made from the OTS's and minicamps."

Q: Every throw will be charted. Every snap recorded. Just how much attention do you pay other things, like how the quarterbacks interact with teammates, in the cafeteria, in the meeting rooms?

A: You certainly watch that, but you do that with a lot of members of your team, especially from the guys who are going to be your leaders. You look at what groups sit together, how that chemistry is built. That's one of the things I enjoy doing. I think this year, because of what we went through last year, there is a strong chemistry with our team. And I think it goes across the boundaries.

A lot of times it's offense versus defense, and we're going to have some battles in training camp where tempers will flare. But what you really like is when you go against another team, the way they pull together as a team."

Q: Speaking of the end of last season, as a head coach do you walk a fine line in terms of saying, 'we finished 7-2 for a reason, we're a good team.' Or are you cautious about having them think they have definitely turned things around?

A: We felt when we were 1-6 we were a decent football team. And we felt when we went 7-2 we were a decent football team. It never became a thing where we thought we were a great football team. I think that's easy for us not to fall into that trap because we were an 8-8 football team. I feel like they believe they can do it; that's an important component. Now we've got to do it.

Will we have swagger? Will our guys feel like they can play well? Yeah. That's the nature of this business when you are a high-level competitor. But I don't think there's going to be any type of feeling we're a great football team. We have a chance to be a very good football team, but we've got to be that team that won seven of its last nine, not the team that's 1-6, obviously.

Q: Running backs Beanie Wells and Ryan Williams are returning from knee injuries. How will you approach their work load, especially with a longer preseason?

A: That's why we're carrying an extra back. A lot of it is going to depend on how they're responding to it. You want to push them, as far as being in shape, but you don't want to put them in a position where they're fighting something all year. I can't say until I see how they're feeling and how they're progressing. We have to make sure we're conservative in our approach. We're not just going to throw them out there and give them every rep in practice on the first day of training camp.

Q: Two guys who missed all of last season because of knee injuries, Ryan Williams and Greg Toler, looked good at the end of off-season work. Are they ready to go?

A: I can speak to that from my personal experience. You always have that doubt, but the first time you have that "oh, no" moment and then everything is OK, you work through that. But they've looked good. When you're in shorts and helmets, it's a lot easier to look good and feel good. The grind is when you're in the second week of camp and everything is sore and you're hitting. That's the real test.